Home/Species/ Appalachian Filmy Fern

Vandenboschia boschiana

(Sturm) Ebihara & K. Iwatsuki

Appalachian Filmy Fern

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G4Apparently SecureGlobal Rank

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.133119

Element CodePPHYM02040

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVascular Plant

Endemicendemic to a single nation

KingdomPlantae

PhylumFilicinophyta

ClassFilicopsida

OrderFilicales

FamilyHymenophyllaceae

GenusVandenboschia

Synonyms

Trichomanes boschianumSturm

Other Common Names

Appalachian bristle fern (EN) Appalachian Bristle Fern (EN) Appalachian Filmy Fern (EN)

Concept Reference

Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.

Taxonomic Comments

Ebihara et al. (2006) newly combine Vandenboschia boschiana due to its chloroplast molecular sequence data. This concept is synonymous with Trichomanes boschianumm as recognized by FNA (1993, vol. 2) and Kartesz (1994). The generic placement of this taxon is in accordance with the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group I (2016).

Conservation Status

Rank Method Rank calculation - Biotics v2

Review Date2022-11-03

Change Date1986-04-08

Edition Date2022-11-03

Edition AuthorsSE RSGCN Workshop (2022)

Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences81 - 300

Rank Reasons

This fern is endemic to the southeastern United States from southern Illinois west to West Virginia and south to Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama where it is rare throughout its range, except in Alabama and Kentucky, where it is common in the appropriate habitat.

Range Extent Comments

This species is endemic to the southeastern United States from southern Illinois west to West Virginia and south to Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama (Weakley and Southeastern Flora Team 2022). Reports of this species from Northern Mexico are believed to be dwaf forms of Trichomanes radicans (Mickel and Smith 2004) and it is not considered to be in Mexico by Villaseñor (2016).

Occurrences Comments

This species is rare rangewide, except in Alabama and Kentucky.

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

This species grows in rockhouses, rock outcrops with overhangs or vertical outcrops, or sheltered grottoes, often near seepage or spray from waterfalls, on noncalcareous rocks at elevations of 150 to 800 m (Weakley and Southeastern Flora Team 2022, FNA 1993).

Terrestrial Habitats

Bare rock/talus/scree

Other Nations (1)

United StatesN4

Province	Rank	Native
Alabama	S3	Yes
West Virginia	S1	Yes
Ohio	S1	Yes
Indiana	S1	Yes
South Carolina	S1	Yes
Mississippi	S1	Yes
Virginia	S1	Yes
North Carolina	S1	Yes
Tennessee	S1	Yes
Arkansas	S2	Yes
Illinois	S1	Yes
Kentucky	S3	Yes
Georgia	S1	Yes

Plant Characteristics

Economic Value (Genus)No

Roadless Areas (2)

Arkansas (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Gee Creek	Ozark-St. Francis National Forest	7,957

Illinois (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Bay Creek	Shawnee National Forest	120

References (10)

Ebihara, A., J.-Y. Dubuisson, K. Iwatsuki, S. Hennequin, and M. Ito. 2006. A taxonomic revision of Hymenophyllaceae. Blumea 51(2):221–280.
Flora of North America Editorial Committee (FNA). 1993a. Flora of North America north of Mexico. Vol. 2. Pteridophytes and gymnosperms. Oxford Univ. Press, New York. xvi + 475 pp.
Kartesz, J.T. 1994. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 2nd edition. 2 vols. Timber Press, Portland, OR.
Mickel, J.T., and A.R. Smith. 2004. The pteridophytes of Mexico. New York Botanical Garden Press, New York. 1092 pp.
Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group I. 2016. A Community-Derived Classification for Extant Lycophytes and Ferns. Journal of Systematics and Evolution 54(6): 563–603.
Southeastern Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need Workshop (SE RSGCN Workshop). 2022. Jon Ambrose, Keith Bradley, Malissa Briggler, John Burkhart, Emily Coffey, Todd Crabtree, Amanda Eberly, Margie Dent, Chris Doffitt, Bruce Hoagland, Amy Jenkins, Wesley Knapp, Stephanie Koontz, Lisa Kruse, David Lincicome, Gemma Milly, Sarah Norris, Carrie Radcliffe, Hanna Rosner-Katz, Al Schotz, Jason Singhurst, Diana Soteropoulos, Carlee Steppe, Samantha Tessel, John Townsend, Alan Weakley, Brenda Wichmann, and Theo Witsell. Status assessment workshop, Oct. 17-20, 2022, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta, GA.
Southern Appalachian Species Viability Project. 2002. A partnership between the U.S. Forest Service-Region 8, Natural Heritage Programs in the Southeast, NatureServe, and independent scientists to develop and review data on 1300+ regionally and locally rare species in the Southern Appalachian and Alabama region. Database (Access 97) provided to the U.S. Forest Service by NatureServe, Durham, North Carolina.
Villaseñor, J.L. 2016. Checklist of the native vascular plants of Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 87: 559-902.
Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2022. Flora of the southeastern United States. Edition of April 24, 2022. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 2022 pp.
Weakley, A.S., and Southeastern Flora Team. 2024. Flora of the southeastern United States. Edition of March 4, 2024. University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), North Carolina Botanical Garden, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 2203 pp.